THE average cost of moving house has shot up to more than £8,000, figures show.

And stamp duty now accounts for a quarter of the total as more buyers are being clobbered by higher rates of the property tax.

There were calls last night for the “unfair” duty to be cut.

Across the UK, the average cost of moving was £8,248 last year, up six per cent from 2012.

This rise was fuelled by hikes in stamp duty, estate agency fees and legal fees, all up about seven per cent, Lloyds Bank said. There was no change in the price of removal costs or surveyors’ fees.

Stamp duty is an unfair tax which prevents first-time buyers from getting on the property ­ladder

Jonathan Isaby, of TaxPayers' Alliance

The average stamp duty bill was £2,001. In 2003, the average was £1,649, meaning the cost of the property tax has risen 21 per cent in a decade.

Lloyds said that rising house prices have forced many people into higher stamp duty brackets.

Those buying homes worth between £250,000 and £500,000 have to pay three per cent. For those purchasing property in the £500,000 to £1million bracket it is four per cent. Five per cent is ­levied on homes valued between £1million and £2million, and seven per cent is charged above that figure.

For families pulled into the three per cent bracket, stamp duty costs £7,500 to £15,000.

Jonathan Isaby, of campaign group the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Stamp duty is an unfair tax which prevents first-time buyers from getting on the property ­ladder as well as making it ­difficult for families wanting to move from existing properties to new homes, depending on their circumstances.

“Originally designed as a modest tax on the purchase of the most expensive homes, stamp duty now affects an overwhelming majority of home-buyers. The Chancellor should urgently end the slab nature of the tax, which completely distorts the market, and should also ease the burden on taxpayers by increasing the thresholds or reducing rates.”

The highest cost of moving was in London, where the average last year was £20,825. Stamp duty made up half, with the average bill in the capital hitting £10,850.

But it is the South-east that has seen the biggest leap in moving costs. They have risen 85 per cent since 2003 to £16,187. House price rises have seen the ­average stamp duty in the region jump from £2,250 in 2003 to £8,157.

Yet, across the country, while the cost of moving has increased 21 per cent in a decade, average earnings have risen 29 per cent.

Marc Page, Lloyds Bank mortgages director, said: “At a national level the relative cost of relocating to a new property is actually lower than it was in 2003.”

A Treasury spokesman said: “At a time when we must continue to reduce the deficit, stamp duty is an important source of government revenue, raising several billion pounds each year to help pay for essential services.”